Select Player Two
by Riona
Summary: Neku wakes in the scramble crossing, a Player Pin in his hand. Again. Goddammit, Joshua.


Neku wakes in the middle of the scramble crossing.

_Fuck_.

He can tell the thing in his hand is a Player Pin before he even looks down. When he screams, he doesn't really know whether it's out of frustration or just trying to attract some attention; maybe people will hear, maybe they'll come over, maybe he's in the RG and everything's fine.

Nobody looks at him. Of course. It's not like he just lay down for a nap in the scramble crossing; he _remembers_ dying this time. He knows how he got here. He just doesn't know _why_.

Neku's phone vibrates in his pocket. He considers just lying here and banging his head against the ground until he knocks himself out.

Should probably check the message. Not like he doesn't already know what it says. He's done this way too many times.

He drags himself upright and takes out his phone.

_Reach 104. You have sixty minutes. Fail, and face erasure. Best of luck._

Neku hisses through his teeth as the timer burns itself onto his hand; he'd forgotten about that. Definitely no way he can pretend this isn't real now.

Okay. Okay. He needs to calm down. More importantly, he needs to find a partner, or he'll be dead in minutes.

You know, more dead than he is already.

There's a part of him that just wants to throw himself under the Noise bus and end this Game before it's even started. How can this be happening again?

He takes a deep breath, and then he starts walking in Hachiko's direction. He can't give in until he knows what the stakes are.

And he's survived three Games already; he can manage a fourth, right?

He's gonna be so pissed off if he's here for another three weeks.

* * *

Hachiko looks reassuringly normal, lit up by the morning sun. And standing in front of it, waiting...

Neku knew he would be here, somehow, but seeing him is still like running straight into a concrete wall.

"Hello, Neku," Joshua says, managing – as always – to make the name itself sound like a mockery.

"You killed me," Neku says. He's shaking; he can't stop himself. It's strange; Joshua has betrayed him so much already, he wouldn't have expected another betrayal to hit him so hard. "_Again_."

Joshua shrugs. He's smiling, of course. "I suppose I must have missed you."

"You couldn't have just come to the RG and said hi? Instead of putting a _bullet_ in my head?" He takes a deep breath, because his voice is starting to hike up higher than his vocal cords can really handle. "_Again?_"

"You're right," Joshua says. "It wasn't very creative, was it? I promise I'll use a more interesting method next time."

Neku gapes at him. It takes him a moment to remember how to speak. "There won't be a next time!"

"Well, not with that attitude," Joshua says, taking a slow, deliberate step towards him. "I can't kill you if you don't come back to life, and you won't win the Game if you won't work with your partner."

Neku blinks uncomprehendingly, and then Joshua grabs his hand and there's a flash of light and—

A pact? _Seriously?_

"Now," Joshua says, "I believe we need to get to 104."

Why would Joshua kill him and then partner up? What is he trying to do? Does he just want to mess with Neku's head? If he does, he's doing it _really well_.

"You'll find you get there faster if you move your legs."

"Is this for Shibuya again?" Neku demands. "Am I your proxy?"

"Shibuya is safe," Joshua says. That's one good thing, at least. "This is a new Game; there are new stakes. All will become clear."

Neku closes his eyes and breathes deeply, trying to stay calm, or as close to calm as he can get under the circumstances. "Because you're gonna tell me right now?" he asks, not very hopefully.

"Patience, partner."

"What was my entry fee?" Neku asks, opening his eyes. He has a horrible feeling he already knows.

"Hmm," Joshua says, folding his arms. "What do we think it might be, Neku?"

He wishes Joshua would just stop smiling. Joshua wants to keep ruining his life, fine, but can he at least _pretend_ not to be enjoying it quite so much? "My friends?"

"I considered those headphones you seem to be surgically attached to," Joshua says (which is seriously unfair; he does take them off _sometimes_), "but, yes, you're playing for Shiki Misaki and the Bito siblings. Look sharp."

He was expecting it, but having it confirmed still comes as a kick to the gut. "Why do you have to drag them into this?"

"I think you'll find, Neku," Joshua says, "that they're only your entry fee because you cared so much about them. So, really, who's the one doing the dragging?"

You're probably not supposed to punch your partner in the face. That's not the kind of thing that engenders trust. On the other hand, Neku doesn't think he could trust his partner any less at this point if he had literally made a pact with Adolf Hitler, so he's way past worrying about staying in sync.

He still doesn't punch Joshua, though. Because here's the other thing about Joshua: the kid could probably vaporise him easily. And, as mentioned, Neku really isn't sure he trusts him not to.

"Neku," Joshua says, holding up his hand, and for the first time Neku realises he has a timer as well. Did he ever have a timer the last time they were partners? Neku never really had a chance to notice; the GM was AWOL most of the week. "104. You've already survived three Games; it'd be awfully embarrassing if you fell on your way out of the starting gate now. Chop chop."

* * *

They make it to 104 without any problems. Of course they do; it's not like the first day is ever a strain, once you've found a partner. Although having Joshua around is kind of straining even when he's not saying anything, now that Neku knows exactly what he is and what he's done. Neku thought he'd escaped all this. What the hell does Joshua want from him?

Neku checks his hand when they're outside the building. No timer. Mission complete.

"Congratulations, Neku," Joshua says. "Once again you've demonstrated an admirable ability to walk north."

Neku can't hold himself back from asking any more; it just comes out. "Do you hate me? Is that why you're putting me through this again?"

Joshua actually looks surprised. "Why would you think I hate you?"

"You keep murdering me, for one thing."

"I've only done that twice. I'd hardly call that a habit."

"What about that duel you forced me into?"

"What, the time I murdered you back to life?"

"All right," Neku says, throwing up his hands. "_Only_ twice, then. And who hasn't shot their friends dead a couple of times?"

"You really need to stop taking these things personally, Neku," Joshua says. "If I disliked you, we wouldn't be spending so much quality time together, now would we?"

He doesn't know whether hearing that Joshua doesn't hate him makes things better or worse. It definitely makes them harder to understand. "I don't even want to know what you do to your enemies."

"I don't have enemies," Joshua says. "I am universally adored." He stretches, looking towards the scramble crossing. "Ready for the week ahead? The first day is behind us, but it won't be all be shopping trips and tearful reunions."

Well, if playing the Game is the only way he'll get out of this mess Joshua has dropped him in, he guesses he'll play the Game. "Bring it on."

* * *

It's weird how natural it feels, falling back into the rhythm of fighting Noise as if he never really stopped. He wonders, the first time, whether Joshua is actually doing any work in his zone or whether he's just hanging back and laughing as Neku does all the fighting, but then he feels the surge of energy that means his partner's landed a good hit.

Trust your partner. What does that mean? He wouldn't exactly say he'd trust Joshua with his life, for obvious reasons, but he guesses he can trust Joshua to have his back in a fight. For now.

When he emerges from the Noise dimension, panting, and sees Joshua, there's an unexpected and annoying twinge of something like fondness. It's hard to work together with someone, rely on them, fight perfectly in sync with them without feeling close to them. He wants to hate Joshua; it'd make everything a lot less complicated.

So he looks away and waits for Joshua to do something irritating. It doesn't take long.

"That could have been quicker," Joshua says. "Don't tell me you've become rusty since your return to the RG. I'd hate to be wiped out on your account."

"I should just let them erase you," Neku says. "Seems fair. I mean, you did kill me."

"You do like telling me that, don't you? I think by this point we can assume that I know."

"Sorry if it seems like I'm holding a grudge over something _trivial_."

Joshua gives an exaggerated sigh, folding his arms. "We're partners, Neku. Shouldn't we bury the hatchet and work together?"

"It'd be easier if you didn't keep burying it in my head," Neku says.

* * *

The second day is standard fight-a-giant-Noise stuff. The third day, Neku has to read the mission text three times to make sure he's not hallucinating.

"We're meant to make Dragon Couture fashionable all over East Shibuya," he says eventually. "And we've got to do it by dressing in their Elegant Lady collection. Who the hell is this GM?"

"Someone with excellent taste, clearly," Joshua says, looking amused. "Can I pick your outfit?"

"No."

Fighting in an evening dress is kind of a nightmare, it turns out, but they manage it. At least nobody can see them. Well, at least nobody can see _Neku_; Joshua seems to be thoroughly at ease in his Elegant Lady threads.

"I don't get some of these missions," Neku says, frowning. "How is something like this meant to decide who should get a second chance at life?"

"Well, obviously it's a crime for the RG to be deprived of your figure."

Neku pulls off his silk gloves and throws them at him.

* * *

_Oh, I can't be bothered to come up with a mission. Every day? What a pain. Have a day off. Relax._

"Seriously," Neku says, waving his phone at Joshua, "who the hell is this GM?"

Joshua stretches idly; he's lying on a bench in the morning sunshine, ignoring the crowds around Hachiko. "Let's not question our good fortune," he murmurs, letting his eyes close.

Neku shrugs. "Okay, I'm not complaining."

Well, he's on his feet and Joshua's taking up the only place to sit, which is kind of annoying, but he's definitely not complaining about the no-mission thing.

Neku pauses, frowning; something's bothering him. He looks around. There's Hachiko, on his plinth; there are the RG people, chattering endlessly. It's a popular spot. A lot of people have been left standing, like him; there's no space to sit anywhere.

He looks back at Joshua, who's taking up an entire bench.

This is definitely weird.

Joshua opens an eye. "Taking a moment to appreciate the view, Neku?"

"Why don't people sit on you?" Neku asks.

"Because you persistently ignore my invitations to," Joshua says. "What are you talking about?"

"You're invisible, right? You're in the UG right now, so they can't see you in the RG. So this is just an empty bench to them. Why isn't anyone trying to sit down?"

"Ah," Joshua says, with a smile. "Have you ever been on a bus or a train where there are empty seats, but everyone standing is too polite to sit?"

For a second Neku thinks he's just rambling about something unrelated – it's Joshua, after all; who knows what goes on in that guy's head? – and then his eyes widen. "There were _Players_ there?"

"It's not conscious," Joshua says, "but the residents of the RG tend to avoid those of the UG."

"But why? They just kind of... pass through us, right?" In the past, he's tried to attract the attention of people in the RG by tapping them on the shoulder; it really doesn't work.

"They do," Joshua says, "but they don't enjoy it. It makes them feel uneasy, even if they can't explain why. So they avoid us. Which is convenient; it'd be very distracting if people kept walking through your partner when you were trying to have a conversation." He shifts his shoulders against the bench, closing his eyes again. "And it also means nobody is blocking my sunlight."

It's impossible to resist. Neku sidesteps to put himself between Joshua and the sun; his shadow falls across Joshua's face. He finds himself wondering whether people in the RG can see it.

Joshua opens his eyes, looking unimpressed. "Yes?"

Neku shrugs, trying not to smirk too obviously.

* * *

They stay by Hachiko for an hour or so, just taking the time to do nothing. Neku ends up sitting on the ground, leaning against Hachiko's plinth; he tries sitting in the same place as an RG person at one point, because it's not like he technically _can't_, but it's just too weird.

Eventually, Neku pokes Joshua awake; he's getting hungry, and if he strays too far from his partner in search of food the Noise will come after them. "Hey. Let's get something to eat."

Joshua sighs, swinging his legs off the bench and sitting up (a young RG woman and her friend immediately sit in the space his back and shoulders just vacated). "Oh, I suppose."

"We could grab some burgers over there," Neku suggests, nodding towards the stationside shops. "C'mon."

Joshua yawns, making no move to stand. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea," he says. "The charming young woman who works at Sunshine is the one who discovered your body. She'd probably be distressed to see you again."

Neku stares at him. "What, seriously?"

He hadn't really thought about it. People in the RG think he's _dead_. Of course, they kind of have a point.

There's something strange about this, though. He guesses it's been bothering him for a while, on some level.

"So how does it work?" he asks. He's not really expecting an answer; asking why people in the RG don't sit on them is one thing, but this is something personally important to Neku, which means Joshua will be about as helpful as giving a drowning man a glass of water. "Nobody acted like we were ghosts when we came back; it was just like we'd been missing for a while. But Shiki's friend knew she'd died when we were in the Game. And there were flowers where... you know, in the underpass."

"Hmm," Joshua says. "Well, if someone witnesses a Player's death or comes across their body before it can be removed, it's easiest to let them mourn and sort everything out later. There's generally a lot of messy memory-alteration required if that Player wins the Game and a second chance at life, but of course most Players will be erased, in which case there's nothing to do."

"Are you actually answering a question?" Neku asks, with only mostly-feigned astonishment.

Joshua smirks. "I'm just pleased to see you're taking an interest in the inner workings of the Game, Neku."

"So what if nobody sees them die?"

"In that case, we'll try to keep the Player's death out of public knowledge while the Game is still ongoing," Joshua says. "It makes things much easier if they win."

"And you let someone find me? Some mastermind you are."

"Oh, all right," Joshua says, half-laughing. "I lied about the Sunshine girl; nobody found you. Your body's being... kept in storage, let's say."

"Well, that's creepy," Neku says. "You could've just said you didn't feel like burgers."

"I suppose I don't feel like burgers," Joshua says. "Shadow Ramen?"

"Food's better at Ramen Don, right?"

"Well, yes," Joshua admits, getting to his feet, "but the Shadow Ramen proprietor is wonderfully entertaining. I think he might cry if I wink at him once more. Care to see me test my hypothesis?"

Neku feels slightly evil for agreeing to go to Shadow Ramen after that, but he can't help it; it's good to see Joshua making someone _else_ uncomfortable for once.

* * *

It's hard to pin his relationship with Joshua down, somehow. Most of the time he wants to strangle him; he knows that much. But then there are the times when Joshua makes him laugh; the times when Joshua's teasing just feels like teasing and not like he's up on his Composer-throne, looking mockingly down at all the little mortals.

Something about the way Joshua looks at him now feels... different. Sometimes. A little more equal than the last time they were partners, even though Neku knows now just how far from equal they are.

Hell, Joshua answered some of his questions today. And not just meaningless questions about empty seats; questions that _matter_, questions about what's happened to Neku. When has that ever happened before?

He doesn't get any of it.

* * *

"Defeat the boss of Cat Street?" Neku reads aloud.

It's Day Five, they're on the scramble crossing and the mission has just come through. Looks like fighting more Noise. Still, at least it's something he knows he's pretty good at by now.

"Okay," he says, putting his phone away and looking up at Joshua. "We didn't fight anything yesterday, so I guess we should get some practice in before heading for Cat Street."

Joshua sighs heavily. "Do you always have to work so hard? I'm sure we're capable."

Neku folds his arms. "You spent the whole of yesterday lying around and freaking out the Shadow Ramen guy. You're like the god of this entire place; how are you this lazy?"

"Cat Street's bosses are invariably third-bar," Joshua says. Neku has no idea what that means. "Mr H won't let anything stronger near his shop. But I suppose I'll fight if we must."

"Good," Neku says, turning away. "Because we're fighting."

He closes his eyes and scans the area, looking for a warm-up battle. Something else catches his attention, though: a man, maybe mid-twenties, just stepping out of the narrow gap between two buildings bordering the crossing.

"Holy crap, there's a lot of Noise around that dude," Neku says, ending the scan. "You think we should—" and then he stops talking. The guy, glancing around, has just tucked something into the back of his pants. He could not look more shifty if he were competing in the final of the National Untrustworthiness Championship. "Hey, what was he just holding?"

"Hmm? Just now?" Joshua walks briskly past him, crossing over to the alley their guy just emerged from; Neku follows. "Let's see, if I set it to a minute ago – let's hope this is something interesting, Neku, I don't like wasting my pictures of the past—"

The camera on his phone flashes, and Joshua falls silent.

"Well," he says after a moment, turning the screen so Neku can see it, "I suppose that's intriguing enough."

The photo shows the guy half-doubled over, bracing his back against the wall of one of the buildings forming the alley.

He's holding a gun.

Neku turns sharply, making sure they've still got the guy in sight. The guy's just standing on the edge of the crossing, looking up at 104. A_ gun?_ What the hell?

"Bring back memories?" Joshua asks, with a laugh.

"Yeah," Neku says, "and they're so fond." He's only half-focused on the exchange, though; for once, Joshua isn't the most attention-grabbing thing in the vicinity. Why does this guy have a gun? Who just carries a handgun around in the middle of Shibuya? Apart from, you know, the obvious.

"Rather a sleek model, too," Joshua says, tilting his head. "I wonder what the bullets feel like? I'll have to give you the opportunity to find out."

He's kidding. He's got to be kidding, right? "I don't get why shooting me is your favourite hobby. Can't you just, I don't know, play Tin Pin Slammer? Like a normal person?"

"Still," Joshua says, ignoring him entirely, like that's new, "you're already dead, so our friend here must be planning to waste his bullets on something less satisfying. Give him a scan, would you?"

Oh, right. He doesn't need to wonder; he can find all the answers out right now. Neku closes his eyes again, and he concentrates, and he touches his Player Pin, and—

Neku's eyes fly open. "He's gonna kill his ex-girlfriend!"

Joshua sighs. "Really? How predictable."

"This isn't funny! What do we do?"

"Hmm," Joshua says, adopting a thoughtful pose. "I don't suppose you have 'don't kill your ex-girlfriend' as a meme at your disposal."

Fighting the Noise around him ("Really?" Joshua asks. "Do we have to go to so much effort?") does nothing; they just keep coming. This is a problem that's attracting Noise, not a problem caused by them. Crap.

When the guy starts to move, walking up towards 104, Neku hurries after him, keeping him in his eyeline. He doesn't know exactly what he can do to stop him, but he's got to try, right?

"Actually, I'm interested in seeing how you cope with this," Joshua says. There's a smile creeping into his voice, and when Neku glances over at him he has his phone in his hand. Like Joshua has any right to say Neku's surgically attached to his headphones; Joshua and that phone are basically married. "Change of plans. Forget about the Cat Street business."

"We can't just—" Neku begins, and then his own phone beeps and he pulls it out of his pocket to check it.

It's a new mission mail. _Thwart the uncreative spurned lover_.

Neku stares at it. Then he raises his head and stares at Joshua.

"Oh, did I not tell you?" Joshua asks. "I'm the one setting the tasks for this Game."

Now that he thinks about it, Neku can't believe he didn't figure it out when the Elegant Lady mission came through.

He doesn't have time to think about all the implications of this; someone's in danger, and now it's more than her life on the line. When he turns back to check on the guy, though, he realises he's lost him in the crowd, and for a moment he panics before remembering his Player Pin. He scans the area, and there are the Noise, swarming around their gun guy like he's made of... whatever Noise eat.

That's good. It's easy enough to tell where the gun guy is, at least. The problem is nobody can see or hear or feel them, so how the hell are they meant to stop him?

Neku looks over at Joshua, drawing breath to ask what he thinks they could try, and suddenly the answer hits him. "You can travel to the RG, right? You can talk to him!"

"I said I'm interested in seeing how you cope, didn't I? I can't just step in and fix everything for you."

Of course nothing that involves asking Joshua to be helpful is ever the answer. "_Are you stupid?_ This isn't a game; someone's gonna be—"

Neku cuts himself off. 'Someone's gonna be killed' probably isn't the best line of persuasion to use against someone who's technically a serial killer himself, even if to Neku's knowledge he's the only person Joshua has ever... serial killed. Pi-Face was dead already, right? Still pretty messed up, though, what Joshua did to him.

The more he thinks about it, the less he understands why he hasn't run away from his partner screaming yet.

He tries again. "I can't do anything; he's on a different level of reality!"

"Admitting defeat so soon?" Joshua asks. "I'm going to end up just as erased as you if you fail; do at least try to make an effort."

"What, seriously?" Neku asks, incredulous. He's never consciously thought about it, but he's always kind of assumed that, if they fail a mission, Joshua is going to walk away unscathed; he's the _Composer_, after all. "Then why won't you talk to him? Why are you even doing any of this? Why partner up with a Player if it's just gonna get you erased? Why kill me in the first place?"

"So many questions, Neku."

"If you want me to stop asking questions, you can start doing things that make sense."

"As I've said before, all will become clear," Joshua says. "Enjoy the suspense. In the meantime, you should probably focus on the mission."

* * *

The guy's steps gets slower and slower as they tail him (Neku finds himself trying to move quietly and inconspicuously even though he knows he's invisible), and eventually he stops walking and leans against a wall, just up from Ramen Don. Neku quickly scans him again. He's having some doubts – probably the reason he took so freaking long to get from the scramble crossing to Dogenzaka – but Neku doesn't know how long those will last. Still, it buys them some time to... do what?

Right. Neku tries to think. How can they influence the RG? Although he should really only be asking how _he_ can influence the RG, because it doesn't seem like Joshua's going to help.

Memes? He doesn't have any. Next idea.

Reaper Creeper? Yeah, but someone's got to decide to play Reaper Creeper first, and he doesn't know how he's meant to communicate 'that guy is crazy, someone stop him' when all he can say is 'yes', 'no' and 'neither'.

Trends? Oh, right, because that guy's gonna feel a whole lot less homicidal if everyone around him is wearing Natural Puppy.

Shops?

That's the answer. That's where he can get a message across.

"Watch the guy," he says urgently to Joshua, and he sprints into Ramen Don.

"Bring back a bowl of shio for me," Joshua calls after him.

* * *

"No ramen?" Joshua asks, when Neku emerges.

Neku isn't going to answer that. "I told the ramen guy there's a guy with a gun out here. Said I heard him muttering about his ex. He's calling the police."

"The police? You're as dull as our target."

"What did you want me to do, wrestle the gun off him? I'm _dead_. Anyway, we've gotta keep following him if he moves, make sure they get to him in—"

There's a loud crash behind him, and Neku yelps and spins around. The ramen guy has just charged out of his shop, looking around wildly. Neku, slightly shellshocked, raises a hand and points at the gun guy before remembering the ramen guy won't see the gesture.

But the ramen guy sees their target anyway, and he must recognise him from the description Neku gave because he charges in gun guy's direction. Gun guy looks up, startled, and his hand goes for the weapon and crap, no, Neku really doesn't want to deal with knowing he accidentally got the ramen guy killed—

—but the ramen guy gets there first and slams gun guy to the ground. The gun skitters away; ramen guy stops it with his foot and picks it up with one hand, keeping the gun guy pinned down.

Holy crap.

"I am holding you until the police get here," the ramen guy announces. Everyone passing by is giving them a wide berth, because nobody wants to mess with the ramen guy right now. "_Shame_ on you."

Neku realises his mouth is slightly open and closes it.

Well. Uh. He guesses that worked?

* * *

"Congratulations, Neku," Joshua says, mock-admiringly, when the police have been and gone and taken the crazy gunman with them. "I suppose the UG won't see that young lady for a while longer."

Neku isn't really listening. He's had time to think while they were waiting for the police to get here, and it's reminded him that he's still got a whole lot of questions and no answers at all.

"If I lose, you get erased," he says, frowning. "But you still dropped us both in this Game. What do you get if I win?"

* * *

Neku wakes in Miyashita Park and scrambles to his feet. "You can't just avoid the question by jumping to the next day!"

"I think you'll find I can," Joshua says. "Coffee?"

Neku rolls his eyes. It's pretty clear that asking about Joshua's motives isn't going to get him anywhere. "Just give me the mission."

"Oh, if you insist," Joshua says, taking out his phone and beginning to text.

"Can't you just tell me it?"

"What are we without traditions?" Joshua asks, hitting a final button. "There we go."

Neku pulls out his phone a half-second before the message actually hits it.

_Enjoy a delightful cup of coffee with your partner. You have a leisurely morning._

Well, it could be worse.

The now-familiar stab of pain shoots through his palm and he flinches, turning over his hand to check the timer. Four and a half hours. "You _had_ to give it a time limit?"

Joshua shrugs and smiles.

Neku pauses, a thought occurring to him. "If I don't enjoy it, does that mean I fail the mission?"

"You keep forgetting that other players can complete the mission for you," Joshua says. "Your insistence on doing everything yourself is admirable, Neku, but does get a bit tedious. You can be as miserable as you like; I intend to enjoy myself."

* * *

He does enjoy it, in the end; all his determination not to melts away when they walk into WildKat and Mr H raises a hand to greet them, grinning. Everything about this situation is still incredibly screwed up, but something about seeing Mr H makes him feel like it's going to turn out okay.

"Heard you ended up dead again, Phones," Mr H says, as he sets down their coffee in front of them. "Tough break."

"Yeah," Neku says. "Shot. I don't think Joshua knows any other way to say hello."

"Which reminds me, Josh," Mr H says. "Got a bone to pick with you. You've made half my customers this kid's entry fee."

Just for an instant, Joshua actually looks slightly awkward. He shrugs. "We don't choose what Players value most, Mr H."

"Right. Anyway, Phones, you've gotta win this one or I'll go out of business."

Neku smiles a little. It's not really funny, considering what's at stake, but it feels good to smile anyway. "Yeah, I'll try."

* * *

They stay there for almost an hour, chatting and drinking some pretty good coffee. It's strangely... comfortable. Neku, feeling reckless, challenges Mr H to a game of Tin Pin Slammer and loses horribly; he challenges Joshua in an attempt to regain his pride and loses that as well.

"Okay, you are definitely cheating," Neku says. "You never used to be this good."

"He's had a lot of practice," Mr H says.

"On that subject, remind me to introduce you to your alternate self at some point, Neku," Joshua says. "It's an encounter I'd very much like to see."

Alternate self? What's that supposed to – actually, forget it. Like his life isn't complicated enough. "I don't even want to know."

At some point, Neku suddenly remembers this is supposed to be a mission and checks his hand in a panic, but the timer is nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Eventually, Joshua drains the last of his second cup of house blend and stands up.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," he says, gesturing with his phone, "but I need to set a few affairs in order. The coffee was exquisite as always, Mr H."

He steps out into the street, and Neku's on his own with Mr H.

"Affairs in order?" Neku echoes.

Mr H shrugs, leaning back against the bar next to their table. "Don't ask me. Probably on the line with the Conductor." He looks sidelong at Neku. "So how're you holding up, kid?"

"Me?"

"I figure it's got to be pretty weird for you to be working with Josh again, given your... history," he says. "Seemed like you were getting along well enough, though."

Neku hesitates. Still, if he can't talk to Mr H, who can he talk to? Yeah, you're supposed to open up to your partner, but he's pretty sure if there's a Player guidebook out there it says 'unless your partner is Joshua Kiryu, because screw that' underneath that particular rule.

"I just... don't get why he's doing this," Neku says. "Any of it. He killed me, he took Shiki and Beat and Rhyme, but... I don't know, we're not enemies. I think we're kind of friends. Sometimes. Is he doing this just to mess with me?"

"He'll have his reasons," Mr H says, hands in his pockets. "You probably won't like them, but they'll exist. I'm not saying he _wouldn't_ do things just to mess with you, but he's not gonna go this far without something bigger on the line."

"So you don't know?" It's a surprise; he'd always kind of assumed that Joshua and Mr H were partners in crime.

"I've got theories," Mr H says. "Believe me, you don't want any of them to be right."

"Reassuring," Neku says. "Thanks."

Mr H grins. "If you make it out of this, drop in any time."

* * *

It's the scramble crossing again for the final day. Neku has a bad feeling about this. He tries to suppress the hopeful part of him that's whispering _it's the last day, if we can just get through this we're out of here_.

At least he can be pretty sure the GM's not going to use his final-day attacking-the-Players-directly privilege. The GM is his _partner_; by killing Neku he'd be killing himself. Although Joshua's actions aren't always easy to predict. Maybe he shouldn't write off a direct attack just yet.

Are there any other Players in this game? Neku hasn't seen any, but that's no guarantee. Crap, what if Joshua drags him into fighting Players?

Okay, he really needs to stop thinking about this.

"Day Seven," Joshua says unnecessarily, checking his phone. "You know, I'll miss our time together, Neku."

"That's nice," Neku says. "You can visit if you want; just leave your guns at home. What's the mission?"

"My, someone's eager."

"I just want to get this over with."

"This may be the last opportunity I have to tell you what to do," Joshua says. Neku really, _really_ hopes it is. "And you're not even going to let me savour it a little? I never realised you were so heartless."

Neku just looks at him.

Joshua sighs. "You know, Neku, sometimes you're no fun at all." He frowns, looking thoughtful, although Neku doesn't believe for a moment that he didn't have today's mission planned from the very beginning.

"All right," Joshua says, his smile – inevitably – creeping back, "I have a mission for you. Kiss me."

It takes Neku a moment to process what he just heard, and the moment he does it feels like he's on fire underneath his skin. "_What?_" he splutters, trying very hard not to blush and, he's pretty sure, failing very badly. "I'm not gonna—"

"Not even to save your friends?" Joshua asks, innocently, and, before Neku has a chance to think about that, "It was a joke, in any case." He laughs, tapping away on his phone. "Your face was more than I'd hoped for."

Neku's phone beeps, and he looks down at the message.

_Erase the Composer._

Crap. No, no, no. That's so much worse. He stares at the text message, willing it to change into something else, but it just sits there, mocking him.

"Actually," Neku says, looking up at last, "can I just kiss you instead?"

"All you like," Joshua says, with a feral grin, "but it won't win you the mission."

The horror is beginning to give way to anger; it usually does when Joshua is involved. "What the hell is your obsession with getting me to kill you?"

"I'm tired of being the Composer," Joshua says. "It was mildly interesting for a while, but I've had enough of Shibuya. Still, after all we've been through together, I didn't want to abandon it to the first madman to come along and kill me. I think I owe this place the benefits of my excellent taste in successors, at least."

This is insane. "You want me to _take over_ from you? _That's_ why you killed me?"

"And now you get to return the favour," Joshua says, spreading his arms. "I don't suppose there's any chance you'll make it quick."

Joshua hand-picked Neku as his successor? In a way, it's strangely flattering; for all Joshua's mockery, he actually respects Neku enough to trust him with Shibuya. In a much bigger, much more important way, it's ruined everything.

This isn't happening. He was _so close_. Even if he completes this mission, he won't be coming back to life; he'll be stuck as the Composer. Not that that makes a difference, because there's no way he's completing it.

"You're my partner," Neku says. "I can't. I'll die too."

Joshua laughs. "And won't that be romantic? You'll be fine. We only share our lives when we're fighting the Noise in their dimension; there's nothing to keep you from, say, stabbing me in the heart."

There's quite a lot to stop him, Neku thinks. He almost killed Shiki once; it was the worst mistake he ever made. He's not going to kill Joshua. Even though he seriously deserves it.

There's also a more practical impediment.

"I don't have a knife," he says. "What am I meant to stab you with, my hair?"

Joshua makes a frustrated noise in the back of his throat and lets his arms fall. "You're being very difficult, Neku."

"Figured it was my turn," Neku says. "I'm not going to kill you."

"So you've decided you're going to fail the mission?" Joshua asks. "After all the effort you've made?"

Is that what he's decided? Is he going to fail the mission? He needs to think about this; this is about more than just him and Joshua.

Neku looks down at his hands, trying to think straight, trying to focus.

Wait. _Is_ he going to fail the mission?

"There's no time limit," he says, raising his hand and displaying it to Joshua. "How do you know when I've failed?"

Joshua bursts out laughing. "Well, you might have a point. What exactly are you planning to do: stay here and refuse to finish the mission?"

"Maybe," Neku says.

"How long do you think you're going to last?" Joshua asks, his eyes gleaming. He seems... strangely animated, even though he was acting annoyed a moment ago. Maybe he's just pleased that he gets to bat his plaything around for a little longer.

"I already know you can change the mission," Neku says. "All I've gotta do is wait until you give up."

Joshua applauds. "Have you considered that I could just change the mission to give you a time limit?"

Crap. Neku actually hadn't considered that. He tries not to let it show on his face.

"Still," Joshua says, "I can't say I don't enjoy watching you squirm. And I suppose it's fair to let you set the terms of our game once in a while. If you want to see who gives up first, I'm happy to play along."

Well, that's good news, at least. It could mean Neku's stuck in the UG for a while, but at least he doesn't have to kill his possibly-friend straight away. All he has to do is wait until Joshua realises he either doesn't really want to die or doesn't want to be chained to Neku any more. Or until Joshua drives him so crazy he actually snaps and does it.

There's still one problem, though. There are actually about a billion problems in the whole 'this guy killed Neku (twice, he's still not over that) and now wants _Neku_ to kill _him_ to take his place as some weird god of Shibuya and torment the dead, who, let's be honest, have enough to deal with already' scenario, but there's one that stands out.

"What'll happen to my friends?" he asks.

"Your entry fee?" Joshua asks. "They'll be kept safe until you complete the final mission and win the game. When they're returned, they won't have any memory of where they were during our time together. They're not really being imprisoned so much as suspended from existence."

"And if I don't win?"

"Then they won't be returned."

For once Joshua isn't smiling, Neku realises. There's no mockery in his tone. He's not getting a kick out of this; he's just giving the facts.

Suspended from existence. So if Neku doesn't do anything, they'll just carry on not existing. If Neku gets wiped out by Noise when he's waiting for Joshua to change his mind, there's no chance they'll ever come back.

He doesn't want to kill Joshua, but he'll be killing all three of them if he holds back, and he can't do that. Joshua's a good friend – well, no, he's a terrible friend, possibly the worst friend in the entire history of the universe, but he's still a friend – but there's no way he outweighs Shiki and Beat and Rhyme. And he's _asking_ Neku to erase him. They don't get a choice.

Crap. He really doesn't want to make this decision. He knows what he'll go with if he really has to, but isn't there anything else?

"You can change missions," he says. "Can you—?"

"I'm afraid the entry fee is non-negotiable," Joshua says. "What you value most are your friendships. I don't think you can deny that."

"Maybe, but you didn't take my friendships. You took my friends. Don't do this to them just because I wouldn't play along with your weird murder fantasy."

"Hmm," Joshua says, and he falls silent.

Neku waits for a long moment.

"Uh," he says, eventually. "Joshua?"

Joshua disappears.

Wait, what the hell?

Did he just get erased? That can't be right. What could have erased him? Does this mean Neku doesn't have a partner? He tenses, looking around, wondering whether the Noise are about to come after him. He won't be able to fight them if Joshua's gone.

Just when Neku's about to go into a full-blown freakout, Joshua reappears.

"Where were you?" Neku demands.

"Just paying a visit to a higher plane," Joshua says. "There are powers I can't use on this frequency. You couldn't perceive me there, just as people in the RG can't see us in the UG."

"Can you tell me next time you're—"

But Neku cuts himself off, his eyes widening. He can hear a very familiar voice.

"Yo, what we doin' here?"

"Huh? You mean you can't remember how we got here either? Spooky."

Neku whips around, and there they are: Shiki, Beat, Rhyme. Just standing there, by the scramble crossing, confused but totally fine.

"Guys!" he calls.

"They won't hear you," Joshua says. "You're not alive yet."

Neku frowns. "Huh? Then why are they—"

"And even if they could hear you, they wouldn't know who you were."

It takes a moment for understanding to dawn. "You changed my entry fee?"

Joshua shrugs. "Not really. Your entry fee was your friendships. That could mean either the actual people you've befriended or their memories of you; it makes no real difference."

That's obviously untrue, and Neku knows Joshua knows it; it makes a huge difference to his friends, for one thing. So why would he let them go? For their sake? For Neku's?

"I don't think you really want to die," Neku says.

"I want to stop being the Composer, and I want you to take my place," Joshua says. "There's really only one way to accomplish that. So, yes, I want to die."

"Then why'd you let my friends go? They were the only real leverage you had over me. Like I'm going to kill you now."

Joshua smiles. "Oh, I'm confident enough I can make you want to kill me without them."

"You definitely can," Neku says. "I'm still not going to."

"Besides," Joshua says, "I suppose spending some more time with you might be entertaining."

Neku is starting to wonder whether he really knows what he's getting into. If they're both stubborn enough, he could be looking at pretty much an eternity in the UG with pretty much nobody but Joshua for company.

A thought occurs to him. Does Joshua spend most of his time completely alone? Nobody really seems to know him – nobody but Shades and Mr H, and Shades doesn't really count, even if you forget the fact he's been erased; it's hard to have any kind of meaningful relationship with someone who worships you. His true self exists on a frequency where almost no one can see him.

It's a life that Neku might have envied once. Now, after everything he's learnt, he can really see why Joshua could be tired of being Composer.

He looks over at the friends who don't remember him and lets out a long breath. Maybe he can catch them in shops or something. Build up new memories.

"Okay," he says. "Operation Don't Kill Joshua starts here."

Joshua laughs. "I'm going to give it three days."

"Yeah, we'll see. Let's go get coffee."


End file.
